State ethics panel members named

ALBANY -- Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and legislative leaders named members to the state's new ethics panel Monday, the day the agency was supposed to be up and running.

The 14 panelists, by and large, have been in and around government, including some with ties to the leaders who appointed them.

Cuomo, a Democrat, tapped Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore, a Republican turned Democrat to lead the panel, formally known as the Joint Commission on Public Ethics. The panel was created to monitor lawmakers, lobbyists and state employees. The governor, who appointed six of the members, also named Mitra Hormozi, one of his top aides when he was attorney general, and Daniel J. Horwitz of Brooklyn, a lawyer.

The governor signed the bill into law in August; it was mandated to be operating by Monday. Senate Minority Leader John Sampson (D-Brooklyn) used his one pick to name Ravi Batra, a Manhattan lawyer whose political ties have drawn attention in the past -- and whose appointment drew strong criticism from government watchdogs.

"He's the one who stands out, with questionable associations that others don't," Dick Dadey, of Citizens Union, said of Batra. Dadey said he wasn't concerned about the ties of other appointees because "anyone with a long career in public service in New York is going to have affiliations with public officials."

Batra's law firm once employed Clarence Norman Jr., a former assemblyman and Brooklyn power broker who was convicted in 2005 on felony charges -- unrelated to Batra -- involving misuse of campaign funds. Norman had named Batra to a panel that screened Democratic nominees for state Supreme Court positions.

Sampson said he was confident that "Mr. Batra will help bring integrity back to the halls of our Capitol." Batra didn't immediately respond to requests to comment, but provided several recommendation letters, including from Reps. Gary Ackerman (D-Roslyn Heights) and Eliot Engel (D-Bronx).

Batra has contributed about $8,000 to Sampson and about $7,000 to Cuomo in recent years, according to state campaign-finance records.

Batra was hired recently as a "special counsel" by Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano to provide advice "on fiscal management, ethical issues" and other issues, according to a notarized agreement between Batra and Mangano. Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre), who had three picks, named a former colleague, Mary Lou Rath, a Republican senator from the Buffalo area from 1993-2008. He also named Joseph Covello, a retired state court judge from Plainview, and George H. Weissman, an Albany-area lawyer and former assistant counsel to the state comptroller.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) used one of his three picks to name Patrick Bulgaro, a former state budget director.